THE MATCHUP: Daemen College travels to Edinboro University for a non-conference women's soccer matchup...game time is 6 p.m...live stats can be accessed
HERE.
THE COACHES: Dan Dolan is in his fifth season as head coach at Daemen...the 2011 American Mideast Conference (AMC) Coach of the Year, Dolan has led the Wildcats to three consecutive winning seasons and owns a career record of 46-27-2 (.623)...he guided Daemen to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship last fall...Gary Kagiavas has served as head women's soccer coach at Edinboro since the program was founded in 1996...in his 17 seasons as head coach, Kagiavas has guided the Fighting Scots to a 157-135-28 (.509) record...a three-time PSAC Coach of the Year (2001, 2005, 2007), he has led the Fighting Scots to a 28-10-3 record and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances the past two seasons.
THE SERIES: EU owns a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series...the lone meeting between the two schools came in 2007 when the Fighting Scots posted a 5-0 victory over the Wildcats in Pennsylvania.
NCAA DIVISION II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Two of the NCAA Division II membership process...Daemen has been accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and will play full regular-season conference schedules beginning this fall...the College will also maintain its affiliation with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) for postseason opportunities, as it will not be eligible for the ECC or NCAA postseason during Candidacy Year Two.
THE WILDCATS: Daemen lost six starters from last year's team that won eight of its final nine contests en route to the USCAA championship...a solid backline--led by juniors
Hannah Fraser (Milton, Vt./Milton) and
Meghan Diehl (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) and redshirt-sophomore
Meghan Lipinoga (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Canisius College)--returns intact...the unit has shutout six of its last seven opponents dating back to the end of last season...offensive firepower returns in the form of seniors
Alexa Amato (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island) and
Samantha Engel (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden)...Amato collected team Most Valuable Player honors and first team USCAA All-America honors last fall after leading the team in goals (10) and points (22)...Engel entered the year with 75 career points (25 gls, 25 asts) in 57 career games and garnered second team USCAA All-America honors last season...Daemen opened the year with home wins over Aldersson-Broaddus (4-0) and Maine-Fort Kent (2-0) this past weekend...Engel totaled a goal and an assist in each of the games, while redshirt senior
Kacey Bougard (East Aurora, N.Y./Sacred Heart) made the most of her first game action since 2010 with a "hat trick" and an assist in the season-opening win over A-B...redshirt freshman
Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) has started both games in net and made nine saves in the win over UMFK.
THE FIGHTING SCOTS: Edinboro a member of the NCAA Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)...the Fighting Scots return eight starters and four all-conference players from last year's team that posted a 13-4-3 record and made its second-straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament...Edinboro opened the 2013 season with a 2-1 loss at Millersville, before posting a 3-0 victory over Shippensburg in its home-opener Saturday...junior forward Liz Debo and sophomore midfielder Jansen Hartman both collected National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Region honors last fall...Debo led the team in scoring (14 gls, 32 pts) last year and totaled a goal and an assist in the win over Shippensburg Saturday...Hartmann enjoyed a solid freshman season last year, ranking third in goals (5) and points (15)...junior Meghan Kelly returns in net after starting 19 games last year and posting a 0.90 GAA with six shutouts...she made three saves in the win over Shippensburg.
ECC HONORS: Engel and Haessner each received accolades from the conference for their play last week. Engel was named the conference's Offensive Player of the Week while Haessner earned Co-Rookie of the Week honors.
100-WIN MILESTONE: Daemen's 4-0 over Alderson-Broaddus last Friday was the 100th win in the history of the program, which was founded in 2000. Nearly half of Daemen's total wins (46) have come under since
Dan Dolan took the reins of the program in 2009.
DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen will be seeking its first-ever 3-0 start on Wednesday. Saturday's win vs. UMFK tied the program record for wins to start a season (2) which had been accomplished twice before. In 2012, the Wildcats opened with back-to-back wins vs. Sheridan College (2-1 on Aug. 31; 1-0 on Sept. 1) before falling to UMFK (2-1 in overtime on Sept. 2). In 2009, Daemen defeated Shepherd University (1-0) in a neutral site contest held in Erie, Pa. on Aug. 29, and also Seton Hill University (2-0) on Aug. 30. Their quest for three-in-a-row that season ended at the hands of Grove City College who topped the Wildcats 4-3 on Sept. 4.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats are back home Saturday (Sept. 14) afternoon against Davis & Elkins College...game time is 2 p.m. at Dimp Wagner Stadium.
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College Women's Soccer on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics or @DCWomensSoccer) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics orwww.facebook.com/daemencollegewomenssoccer) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.
